The worry about your kids doesn't stop when they get grown. It just changes shape a bit.
I figured that once they were all settled in to their adult lives, all would be well. After all, it's fair to say that Mark and I worked hard to raise four kids. Adolescence strained the limits of our parenting knowledge. So we figured once we got them to the edge of the nest, they would fly. And little did I realize that leaving the nest is not always a simple a transition.
I myself could not WAIT to get the hell out on my own. I knew my mother was proud of me and loved me, but I was ready to have my own space that was clean, and calm, and mine. I was OK with being alone for the most part - but I wasn't really alone because I did have Mark.
Chloe has Teddy. And while he is a source of love and comfort to her, he is after all, a dog. He can't hold conversations or her hand after a long day. He can't help pay the bills. Come pick her up when her car dies. Make dinner a couple nights a week. Or share the burden of laundry and apartment cleaning. And Chloe is now 26, so I worry that she is settling permanently into this single, alone life. I know it's not my life to live, but I worry just the same.
At the end of the day, I just want to know that she is happy and doing what she wants to do. But I also want her future to be full of more than just Teddy.
